America’s Famous Serial Killers!

Note: This article on America’s famous serial killers was originally published on September 7, 2008 and has since been updated to include profiles of additional American serial killers.

In our original look at some of America’s famous serial killers, we looked at thirteen of the most notorious serial killers in American history. But those murderers are far from the only serial killers our nation has seen.

Now let’s add five more names to the list — more American serial killers you might (or might not) have heard about.

Dean Corll

Dean Corll, also known as “The Candy Man,” didn’t act alone. He worked with two accomplices — Elmer Wayne Henley and David Brooks. Corll is thought to have murdered at least 28 boys in the Houston area from 1970 through 1973. The boys were beaten and raped while tied to a plywood “torture board.” Victims were killed with a gun or by strangulation.

Dean Corll wasn’t prosecuted for his crimes. He was killed by one of his accomplices (Henley). While Henley was convicted of six murders, he wasn’t charged with killing Corll. That was ruled to be self-defense.

Amy Archer-Gilligan

Amy Archer-Gilligan ran a convalescent home in Connecticut. Oddly, her murders inspired the comedy “Arsenic and Old Lace.” She killed residents of her nursing home by poisoning them with arsenic and strychnine shortly after they’d paid her large sums of money. It’s also believed that she killed her wealthy second husband for the inheritance. According to the New York Daily News, “it’s estimated that at least 20 people, and some estimate as many as 100, including her husbands, died by her hand.”

She was only tried for one murder — that of Franklin R. Andrews. She was found guilty and sentenced to death in 1917 and was granted a new trial on appeal. This time she pleaded insanity. She was again found guilty and this time sentenced to life imprisonment. She was moved to a hospital for the insane in 1924. She died there in 1962.

Juan Vallejo Corona

Juan Vallejo Corona is a Mexican American serial killer who preyed upon the workers he supplied to fruit ranches in California. It is believed that Juan Vallejo Corona killed at least 25 laborers whose bodies were found buried in the orchards they worked at. No clear motive was ever given for the killings.

Corona was found guilty of the 25 murders in 1973 when he was issued 25 life sentences. His conviction was overturned in 1978 and he was tried again in 1982. He was again convicted of the crimes. He is still serving time at the Corcoran State Prison in California.

The Boston Strangler

The Boston’s Strangler’s true identity still hasn’t been confirmed, although Albert DeSalvo confessed to being the notorious northeast killer. This unknown serial killer murdered at least 13 women in Boston between 1962 and 1964. Most of the women were sexually assaulted before being strangled, although one elderly victim died of a heart attack and at least two victims were stabbed. Victims’ ages ranged from 19 to 85.

Albert DeSalvo confessed to the stranglings in 1964 after being caught and charged with other sexual assaults (where the victims were not murdered). He was sentenced to life in prison, later escaped but turned himself in, and was ultimately stabbed to death while he was incarcerated.

Many people still believe DeSalvo lied about being The Boston Strangler however, due to inconsistencies and inaccuracies in his claims, DNA evidence that would seem to clear him in at least one case, and the belief that the crimes were too different to all be committed by the same person.

The Zodiac Killer

The Zodiac Killer, who has never been identified, attacked couples around San Francisco in the late 1960s. The Zodiac Killer claimed to have committed 37 murders in total, but only seven have been confirmed so far. They included three young couples and a young man. The known victims were either shot or stabbed.

The killer himself came up with the “Zodiac” name when he used it in letters to the press. He sent them four coded messages (cryptograms). Only one of them has been definitively solved — by a high school teacher. In that letter, the killer expressed his joy in killing, calling it “so much fun.” And he claimed that the people he murdered would become his slaves in the afterlife.

Read on for our original list of America’s famous serial killers or leave a comment to tell us about a serial killer we haven’t covered here.

Serial killers — you’d be hard-pressed to spot them in a crowd. They look just like everyone else. In fact, most of them are soft-spoken and polite. Their monstrous nature comes through only when you delve deeper into their personalities, actions and habits.

Reading the gruesome tales of serial killers sends a chill up the spine. Most of them seem to have had a dysfunctional family setting and were abused as children — emotionally, sexually or verbally. It’s as if this activates some psychological trigger in their minds, increasing the feelings of inadequacy or worthlessness, and causing them to seek out their own heinous form of release.

There have been hundreds of serial killers in the history of America, and there are a few that tend to stay in the minds of citizens, becoming “famous.”

Here are just a few of the (in)famous serial killers that have walked the streets of our nation, in no particular order. There may be many others that are notorious or have killed more people, but we picked a few of the more famous killers that truly shocked us.

Ed Gein (Killings between 1947 and 1957)

Known as history’s most inspirational killer, his character became a central element in many films, including Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Psycho and the character of Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs, among others.

Modus Operandi

Gein was a serial killer who skinned his victims, exhumed corpses, and decorated his home with parts of his victims’ bodies. Human skin was used to make dust bins, furniture, and even clothes.

Background

Gein was born in 1906 as the younger of two boys. He had a weak alcoholic father and a domineering mother who was deeply religious. He was said to be very attached to her. She taught them about immorality and the evils of women and sex and discouraged their sexual desires. He turned into an effeminate and shy boy.

His father died as a result of his alcoholism and later his brother Henry, who used to criticize his mother about Gein’s unhealthy attachment to her, died in a mysterious fire. The younger boy was later suspected.

Fantasies

With nobody to control him after his mother passed away, Gein became obsessed with sexual fantasies and female anatomy. Fascinated by the human experiments performed in Nazi camps, he started robbing graves to perform experiments of his own, including exhuming his own mother’s body. The experiments became gruesome and cannibalistic. He had the desire to turn himself into a woman and would create breasts out of human skin and drape them over himself. He believed that for a sex change, he would need fresh bodies and thus started his killing spree, which was said to be because of his love-hate relationship with his mother.

House of Horrors

When police finally caught up with him, they found a variety of gruesome sights — hanging corpses with their throats and heads missing, bowls made of skulls, pieces of jewelry made of human skin, hanging lips, skin upholstery for chairs, and masks made of facial skin and vulva (including his mother’s) that were painted silver. The most shocking discovery was perhaps his mother’s heart, which was found in a pan on the stove.

Killings and Sentence

Police counted 15 women as his victims. Gein told the police that he never had sex with any of the dead women as “they smelled too bad.” His fascination with women was because of the power they held over men. Gein was admitted to Waupan State Hospital and died of cancer at the age of 78.

Ted Bundy (Killings between 1974 and 1978)

Ted Bundy proved that even the devil can be attractive. Bundy was one of the most infamous serial killers in American history. He was handsome, charming and cultured, all traits playing a role in his ability to rape and murder numerous young women. He even engaged in necrophilia (sexual attraction or involvement with corpses).

Modus Operandi

Bundy had unique techniques of luring his victims. He would drink alcohol before approaching potential victims, even in a crowd or in broad daylight, and gain their trust by faking an injury with his arm in a fake cast or a sling. He would at times act as a policeman or fire department personnel. After luring victims to his car, he would hit them on their head with a crowbar. He then raped and assaulted them sexually before strangling and mutilating them.

This good looking maniac used to visit the corpses several times at the Taylor Mountain body dump site, apply makeup to them, and sleep with them till they putrefied.

Background

One of the theories says that he started killing people as early as 14 years old. Many of his victims are said to have a physical resemblance to his first girlfriend.

Bundy was born Theodore Robert Cowell in 1946 in Burlington, Vermont to an unmarried mother of 22. He gets his name from his stepfather. He was made to believe by his grandparents that he was their son and that his mother was actually his sister.

He was a good student, and like most young people devastated when his first love left him. Bundy didn’t deal with the grief as most people do though. He spent years trying to get her back, and when he did he started killing innocent people and then dumped his girlfriend just as she dumped him.

Killings and Sentence

He was executed in 1989 after confessing to 40 murders.

Before his execution, he revealed that his addiction to pornography led him to do what he did. He said that there are many people out there who were addicted and nothing is being done about them.

One of Bundy’s famous quotes – “We serial killers are your sons, we are your husbands, we are everywhere. And there will be more of your children dead tomorrow.”

David Berkowitz – Son of Sam (Killings between 1976 and 1977)

Better known as the Son of Sam or the .44 killer, David Berkowitz is a New York City serial killer who killed six people and wounded many others. His crimes became famous because of his letters to the media and the police, in addition to the reason he committed these crimes.

Reason for Killing

Berkowitz gave an odd reason for killing – he claimed that to keep the demons quiet, he started doing what they wanted. When dogs howled, he started believing that these dogs were demons asking him to kill women. He was convinced that his house owners, Jack and his wife, were part of the demon conspiracy and Jack was the commander in chief of all the dogs.

Later he shifted into another apartment but was still controlled by the demons in his mind. His new neighbor, Sam Carr, had a black Labrador which Berkowitz believed was possessed. He shot the dog. That did not provide any relief as he began believing that Sam Carr was possessed by the biggest demon, and perhaps Satan himself. Each night these demons told Berkowitz to kill and quench their thirst for blood.

He also used to write letters to the police and media, essentially taunting them with details of his killings.

Background

David Berkowitz, born 1953, was an adopted son of a middle class family in the Bronx. Although his parents loved him, Berkowitz carried a lot of anger and guilt inside him as he felt responsible for the death of his natural mother, who he was told died giving birth to him. Experts believe that could be the reason for his aggressive behavior.

He was devastated when his mother died of cancer and his father remarried and relocated to Florida, leaving him behind when he was 18.

Later he found out that his natural mother was alive and that he had a sister. There was a reunion, butit was too late for him by then as he preferred his isolation and delusions.

Killings and Sentence

Berkowitz received a 365 year prison sentence and told the FBI that he invented the “Son of Sam” stories to convince the court that he was out of his mind. He then said the real reason he killed was partly because he hated his mother for leaving him and partly his failure with women. He felt sexually aroused when he killed women, and he killed six of them.

John Wayne Gacy (Killings between 1972 and 1978)

A respected member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, a precinct captain in the local Democratic party, the owner of a contracting business and a performing joker at children’s parties, John Wayne Gacy seemed as normal as they come.

He came to be known as one of the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history.

Modus Operandi

Gacy lured his victims into handcuffs in the pretext of showing them a pair of trick handcuffs he used in his clown act. He’d then dare the youth to free themselves. Once the boys were handcuffed, he would use either a rope or a board across their throats to kill them while he raped them.

Background

Gacy was born into a blue-collar family in 1942 and had two sisters. His father was an abusive alcoholic who verbally and physically abused his children. Gacy deeply loved his father and strived to please him, but failed.

He had the ability to persuade an manipulate people, likely because of how normal and harmless he seemed on the outside. He later got married and had two kids of his own, but his wife left him when he was arrested for trying to coerce a fellow employee into homosexual acts.

Another thing to note is that he injured his head by falling off a swing when he was 11 years old. He suffered from blackouts until he was 16, and then was diagnosed with a blood clot and the condition was corrected.

Killings and Sentence

When Gacy realized that police were about to arrest him, he surrendered himself. He told them, “There are four Johns” (similar to multiple personalities) — one was a contractor, another a clown, one a politician, and the fourth went by the name Jack Hanley, and he did evil things.

Gacy confessed to more than 24 murders and drew a map to 28 graves under his house and garage. He also said he threw five others into the Des Plaines River.

He was executed with a lethal injection on May 10, 1994. His last meal consisted of fried chicken, Coke, French fries and strawberry shortcake. His last words were, “Kiss my ass.”

He was arrested first when caught fondling a 13-year-old boy in Milwaukee and was sentenced to one year in a work release camp. After serving ten months, he was released on probation for his good behavior. That’s when his killing spree began.

He committed his first murder at the age of 18, shortly after being released, and his first victim was a 19-year-old hitchhiker.

There was a much-talked about story about a 14-year-old boy who almost escaped Dahmer in 1991. He wandered into the streets without clothes, with Dahmer in pursuit. Police believed Dahmer’s story that the boy was 19 years old and was his partner, and took the boy to Dahmer’s house. In spite of noticing a weird smell there, they left without investigating. Soon after, the boy was killed and Dahmer kept his skull as a souvenir.

Background

Dahmer was the son of an analytical chemist, and as a child he had a fascination with dissecting dead animals. By the time he was a teenager, he was an alcoholic and a loner. He dropped out of college and his father forced him to enlist in the Army. After just two years, he was discharged because of his heavy drinking. Since he did not want to face his father, he moved in with his grandmother and lived with her for six years. His grandmother asked him to move out when he was arrested for exposing himself in public.

Killings and Sentence

Dahmer was caught by the police when a would-be victim escaped and alerted them. He was held responsible for 15 murders, sentenced to 15 life terms. Dahmer then expressed remorse and wished death upon himself. He was beaten to death by a fellow inmate and died of severe head trauma.

Gary Ridgway – The Green River Killer (Killings between 1982 and 1984)

“I hate most prostitutes. I did not want to pay them for sex. I also picked prostitutes as victims because they were easy to pick up without being noticed. I knew they would not be reported missing right away, and might never be reported missing.” These were the words of one of the worst slayers in American history, who was said to have killed more women than any other serial killer — Gary Ridgway.

The Green River Killer drama unfolds at Aurora Avenue on the banks of the Green River where hundreds of prostitutes hang around, and where on July 15, 1982 the body of a 16-year-old prostitute was found. She was the first victim of the infamous Green River Killer and was raped and strangled to death. He had the habit of finding a landmark and leaving a group of dead bodies in ‘clusters,” to remember easily. Driving by these clusters and remembering them gave him a high.

The killings continued and police couldn’t find a clue, so the “Green River Taskforce” was formed in 1984. The death toll had reached 26 by then.

Ted Bundy’s Help

Another serial killer, Ted Bundy (who was sitting on a death row), offered to assist the police and gave them several clues into the working of a serial killer’s mind until the time he was executed.

Background

Ridgway was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and he had two brothers. He had a domineering mother who constantly yelled at their father and controlled Ted completely, and she was never pleased with what he did. Ridgway’s IQ was 80, which signified a slight mental deficiency. He had a troubled adolescence and stabbed a six-year-old kid when he was 16. He always had an obsession with prostitutes.

He was married for fourteen years and he managed two totally different identities: one the life of a wonderful husband going on romantic vacations, and the other of the infamous serial killer.

Killings and Sentence

The Green River Killer caused mayhem for two and half years during the 1980s. He pleaded guilty to 48 charges in 2003, but claimed to have killed 71 women. A controversial plea bargain he entered into spared him execution in exchange for helping to locate the remains of all of those women by providing details. This created a lot of controversy as many people believed that a person who murdered so many people should not be spared the death sentence.

He was sentenced to 48 life sentences and is currently incarcerated in Washington at the Washington State Penitentiary.

Belle Sorenson Gunness (Killings between 1900 and 1908)

Unlike many other female killers, Gunness didn’t poison her victims — she slaughtered them. She was a 42-year-old Norwegian immigrant who purchased a property in La Porte, Indiana using her first husband’s insurance after his death. Her husband and two of her children were said to have died mysteriously, although she wasn’t suspected. After moving to La Porte with the rest of her children, she married Peter Gunness who died after just nine months. She collected another insurance payment. Over the next few years, other men that came into her life vanished without trace.

She became famous for being a black widow — killing several of her husbands, ranch workers and adopted children.

Modus Operandi

She would place matrimonial ads in newspapers and promised men marital bliss and a life filled with love. Several hopefuls traveled to La Porte carrying their life savings with them. She would then drug them and cut them up as she cut her hogs. She would then wrap them up with oilskin and bury them at her farm.

There are various accounts of her background. She was said to be one of eight children and was born in Stoersetgjerdet in Norway. One story goes that she got pregnant with a man and he kicked her in her stomach in public causing her to lose her child. He disappeared soon after. According to her sister, Belle was said to be crazy for money.

Missing Mysteriously

In 1908, Gunness’ farmhouse caught fire and burned to the ground. When it was put out, the remains of several people were discovered — men, children, and even a woman. The children were identified as hers. The woman was assumed to be Gunness herself, although there was no head. It was thought she died in that fire.

Many butchered bodies were found around her property, carved like turkeys. The heads were cut off, arms removed, and legs sawed off at the thigh.

Despite the assumption that she died, her ranch hand and lover, Lamphere, claimed that he helped Belle fake her own death and run away when he was arrested. Officially, she was presumed dead.

She was said to have killed 49 people.

Charles Manson (Killings in 1969)

Called the “most dangerous man” and the “devil,” Charles Manson was the terror of the 60s.

Background

He was born in 1934 to a 16-year-old mother who was a troublemaker. She left him with his aunt or grandmother most of the time. She was arrested on armed robbery charges and sent to a penitentiary, leaving Manson to live with his aunt and uncle. Even after she was released, his mother didn’t want the responsibility of looking after him. She was even willing to trade him for a drink. His father was never in the scene from his birth.

Manson turned out to be a troublemaker himself, and he was sent to a reform school at the age of nine. By the time he was 26, he was charged with rape, drug charges, stealing, pimping, and more.

He was religious and used this to manipulate people into following him. When he was 34, he formed the “Charles Manson Family” by attracting a group of followers — mostly young women with troubled pasts. He used amphetamines to alter their personalities and they started calling him “Jesus Christ” and did everything he wanted, including physical favors.

He was a music lover who believed that the “Beatles’” were prophets sent to earth to warn of an upcoming revolution. Manson focused on an Armageddon, where the blacks would rise to power and kill all whites and the Manson family would be the only white family living. He felt the blacks wouldn’t be able to stay in power because of an inferiority complex and that the Manson family would then rule the world.

When this did not happen, he started having people killed by his “family” members.

Killings and Sentence

His first murder was that of Sharon Tate, wife of director Roman Polanski. The next was the LaBianca family. He was sentenced to death but later reduced to life imprisonment, when California Supreme Court eliminated death penalties temporarily. He is currently an inmate at Corcoran State Prison.

Albert Fish (Killings between 1919 and 1930)

Albert Fish may have been America’s most vile pedophile, serial killer, and cannibal. He is known by many names — Gray Man, Brooklyn Vampire, The Boogeyman, and the Werewolf of Wysteria. He was a gentle-looking and benevolent grandfather, a total contrast to the monster within him. His wife considered him a wonderful husband and his children believed he was a model father. Some of his crimes seem unbelievable.

Background

Hamy Fish (his birth name) was born in Washington D.C. as the youngest of four children. Several of his family members had mental health problems. After his father’s death, he was put in an orphanage by his mother and he was whipped at the orphanage frequently. That’s said to be when he began to realize that he enjoyed physical pain and felt aroused by it. Then he entered into homosexual relationships at the age of 12 and was introduced to other perverse practices of drinking urine and coprophagia. His weekends were spent visiting public baths to watch boys undress. This led to male prostitution, which continued even after his marriage and the births of his six children.

Turning into a Psycho-Masochist

He also developed an unusual interest in castration and visited brothels where he got himself whipped and beaten. He pushed needles into his body, including his genitalia. X-rays later revealed a total of 27 needles inside him.

It was at the age of 55 that he started experiencing hallucinations. He believed God ordered him to castrate young boys. This was diagnosed as religious psychosis and is what led to the several mutilations and murders he committed.

Killings and Sentence

Although he was a suspect in five killings, he stated that he “had” around 100 children in all states. Nobody knew whether he was talking about cannibalization or molestation. He was executed on an electric chair.

Herman Webster Mudgett – Dr. Holmes (Killings between 1893 and 1895)

Mudgett’s criminal career started as a medical student who stole corpses from the University of Michigan. He used those corpses to collect insurance money on policies taken under fictitious names. He then started a drug store empire and constructed a huge hundred-room mansion with trap doors, lime pits, fake walls, acid vats, and secret entrances.

Modus Operandi

He would rent rooms to visitors and then try and collect the insurance when they were killed there. He also used to lure women to his “torture castle,” promising marriage. He would then throw them down the elevator shaft and gas them to death. But before he did that he would force them to sign all their life savings over to him.

Background

Herman was born in New Hampshire and his father was very strict, often bullying his son. He had a well-known fear of the local doctor’s office and because of this other students in his school would often force him to touch human skeletons. What was meant to be a scare turned out to be a fascination, which led to him stealing corpses while in medical school.

He started using the name “H.H. Holmes” after moving to Chicago and got engaged in a lot of shady activities. He is also a bigamist, married a second time and a third time while still married to the first wife. He was known to be a charmer and a ladies’ man.

Killings

His huge castle with secret passages had a drugstore and other shops on the ground floor and the upper areas were used as his office. There were more than a hundred rooms without windows, and there were doorways that opened into brick walls. There were also stairways to nowhere, doors that could not be opened from the inside and several other such oddities. This was to become his killing den.

It was here that the killing spree sprouted over a period of three horrible years. Female victims were mostly his employees who were required to take a life insurance policy where Holmes would pay the premiums. Soundproof rooms with gas lines fitted in were used to kill people. These victims were asphyxiated and their screams went unnoticed as they suffocated. There was a chute that took the bodies to the basement, where some bodies were dissected, flesh removed and turned into skeletal models. He sold these skeletons and other organs to medical schools.He also performed illegal abortions in the castle and many of his patients died.

Sentence

Eventually police grew suspicious about the activities in the castle and when he knew he was getting caught, he burnt the castle and vanished. Remains of more than two hundred people were found in the charred debris. He was later caught and hanged.

Coral Eugene Watts – (Killings between 1974 and 1982)

Watts was the first known serial killer in the nation’s history to have legally acquired immunity, and at one point it even looked as if he would be released in 2006 in spite of having committed between 80-100 murders. When a detective said that he did not have enough fingers and toes to count all the murders he committed, Watts replied that there were not enough fingers and toes in the room. (There were four men in the room.)

Usually serial killers are said to kill people of their own race. However Watts, who was an African American, killed whites mostly.

He admitted to killing females because he saw evil in their eyes. He drowned women in a bathtub in order to prevent their spirits from escaping.

He was not caught for many years because he killed in different jurisdictions and different states. DNA tests also didn’t prove anything because he did not dally with his victims, unlike other serial killers.

Modus Operandi

Watts would drive a couple of hours to commit his murders. He stalked women in his car, would park ahead of them, get out of the car, and then approach them. He killed females between the ages of 14 and 34 by strangulation, drowning, and stabbing. Occasionally he also used tools and other metal objects.

He started killing at the age of 20 but did not rape them, and some of his murders occurred without him even touching the women. For him, the thrill came from the hunt and attack.

Background

Watts’ parents divorced when he was two and he lived with his mother and step-father. He was said to act weird when he was a kid. He was never good at academics but excelled in boxing.

He started having morbid dreams when he was 12, always revolving around killing women. In his dreams, he would punch their evil spirits and he usually fell off his bed. When asked by psychiatrists later whether these dreams disturbed him, he said, “No, I feel better after having them.”

These dreams slowly turned into reality when he started watching, stalking, and looking into the eyes of women to find evil. By the age of 15, he began hitting and choking them. Ultimately it wasn’t enough for him to hurt those women — he had to kill them.

Killings and Sentence

Due to lack of evidence of murder, a plea bargain granted immunity from murder if he confessed to his murders and gave details. Due to this and his good behavior, Watts could have been released in 2006. However, after Watts confessed to about 80 murders, the Michigan authorities refused to go in with the deal and got witnesses to come out and speak about a couple of murders. Watts was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, he died of prostate cancer in 2007.

Richard Angelo (Killings between April 1987 and October 1987)

Angelo was a killer with a different mindset from all others. He made the entire nation scared of hospitals. The desire to be a hero in others’ eyes made him a monster. He was 26 when he went to work at the Good Samaritan Hospital on Long Island in New York. He was a former Eagle Scout and always tried to do good things and help others.

His inability to achieve the level of praise he always desired made him a dangerous serial killer of a totally different kind.

Modus Operandi

He took advantage of the graveyard shift at the hospital to satisfy his desires. He would inject Pavulon and Anectine into patients and bring them to a near-death states. He would tell them that he was giving them drugs that would make them feel better. After injecting these drugs, the patients begin feeling numb and their breathing became constricted. They also lost their ability to communicate with the doctors and nurses. Then he would show his heroism by helping to save his victims, impressing everyone in the hospital.

Death came upon many of these patients as he was unable to intervene and save them from his deadly injections.

Background

Angelo was a former boy scout and always wanted to be a hero. He was said to crave for attention from his parents and everyone else around him.

Killings and Sentence

He is said to have killed 25 people and was caught when one of his victims managed to use the call button for assistance after being injected. One of the nurses then took his urine sample and the test proved positive for the drugs, Anectine and Pavulon, which had not been prescribed by the doctors. All the bodies of suspected victims were tested and found positive for drugs.

Angelo confessed and said, “I had no confidence in myself. I felt very inadequate.”

He was charged for second-degree murder on multiple counts and sentenced to 61 years to life imprisonment. He is currently in the Clinton Correctional Facility in New York.

Andrew Cunanan (Killings between April 1997 and July 1997)

Andrew Phillip Cunanan, a soft-spoken intellect who had a flair for languages and discussing world affairs, was a handsome, lavish and boastful young man who associated himself only with the social elite. He earned many dubious distinctions. One was for killing the famous fashion designer, Gianni Versace, and the other is being listed by the FBI on their Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. He was the first person from San Diego to get onto the “prestigious” list.

Modus Operandi

There was no modus operandi discovered for Cunanan. In the beginning he killed his former lovers who he felt were having an affair behind his back. The others that were killed may also have had connections with him, but nobody knows for sure. They were killed differently and with different weapons.

Background

Cunanan was born in National City, California and was a homosexual since high school. He was known for his erratic ways. He graduated in 1987. He was also rumored to be a lover to older and wealthy gay men. His mother called him a “high-class homosexual prostitute.” However his father denied his homosexuality, calling him “an altar boy” who has a good Catholic upbringing.

It is said that in homosexual circles, once a person crosses mid-20s he is considered old. When Andrew turned 28, he was deserted by his wealthy lovers. He was left to pay off credit cards which exceeded limits, and this left him broke. He stopped taking care of his usually very trendy appearance and gained a lot of weight.

At this point another emotion reared its ugly head — jealousy. He spotted two of his young lovers seeing each other behind his back. Another thing that bothered him was the fact that both of them had reached great heights professionally while he remained stagnant.

The jealousy grew to such an extent that he eventually went to visit them, killing both of them just days apart from each other, beginning his life as a serial killer.

Killings and Sentence

One of his victims was Gianni Versace, the Italian designer. The FBI found Andrew, as he left his name signed on the pavement in front of Gianni’s house. The FBI felt that it was his way of trying to get attention, saying “Look at me. I’m the one that did this.”

He led authorities on a massive manhunt for his killings. He killed himself eight days after killing Gianni Versace. He shot himself to avoid capture.

Conclusion

What you have witnessed here is just a fragment of the world of savage and sadistic minds who have transformed this act of murder from a monstrous anomaly into an everyday horror. These mythic monsters capture the attention of the entire nation and end up as terrifying household names.

Looking into the psyche of a serial killer, doctors say that every individual develops positive attitude towards life and people in their early years, and this attitude is rendered negative with abuse — physical and emotional. That abuse can also come in the form of refusal to acknowledge the boundaries of an individual through excessive expectations, possessiveness, and doting, all of which are as abusive as incest or beatings.

Researchers attempting to understand how fantasies warp the serial killer’s mind say that bizarre fantasies thrive in isolation and eventually the killers feel the need to live them out. They dwell on the murder act for days before committing it, completely caught up in their fantasy. But they find that even murder never fulfills the fantasy completely, and this leads to the serial nature of their crime — always looking for satisfaction they never actually find. Many of these serial killers also keep souvenirs of their crime which helps refuel the fantasy.

1,257 comments

kassySeptember 21, 2011 at 10:13 am

your missing DENNIS RADER aka. the “B.T.K. KILLER” & RICHARD SPECK, along with many others. an for the many years that iv studied law, the conclusion of what makes a serial killer a serial killer is a point of some emotional trama that they suffered at some point befor they started killing. you cant blame disorders on what they did.

Not all serial killers experience a traumatic event in their life to make them this way. Everyone has their issues and hardships. It’s just the ones who are brave enough to go through with their endeavors that people look at and say “Oh My God! They were molested as a child, that MUST be what made them crazy”. Do you know how many people have been molested/raped that HAVEN’T become a serial killer? We all know there are people in this world who live pitiful, worthless, and pathetic lives, who have never made a difference. You KNOW that there are people who you might even say ‘deserve’ to die. How can you say that serial killers are NOT given the duty to rid the world of these people and make a bigger difference through their own art than through living a regular life? ASPD as well…… ha. So many people overuse this word to describe quiet people….. but you know what, 99% of you have NEVER met someone who really has it. Someone with the mind of a psychopath, someone who WILL end up killing people because of it. You think you know someone with an antisocial personality disorder, you haven’t met me. Read my comment, you decide. You might say I’m crazy, but I am also one of the most ideologic and articulated person you will ever meet. Who is to say I am wrong, and who is to say you are right. All I know is that there are people who must be removed,and I just might carry out this duty when my time comes.

This is why religion sickens me I mean just look at how many serial killers had are connected somehow to religion and some even killed because of religion not to mention many other things in history caused by religion

I am not a believer myself, and I do think that some people kill others from other religions or so. However, I think if every single religion in the world respected each other there wouldn’t be any problem with believing their way : )

After reading this article (which was very interesting) I just wanted to say a few things.

Firstly I read the entire article and all of the comments. I wanted to point out that just because someones mental wiring doesn’t work like it should, one should always resort to medication LAST! As someone with a small list of tweaks in the network of my brain, I can say honestly that I’ve been on many meds. Most screwed up my personality, eating habits, thoughts. It was hell. We are all different, from our outsides to our insides. Not everyones brain or body produces what it should at the right times like a perfect body with a perfect working order.

Secondly ranting at each other about politics is as bad as ranting about religion. Everyone has different beliefs, different thoughts, and we were all raised with different values. But before you go pointing the finger at our presidents, please understand that this is not a monarchy. The president is a figurehead, and doesn’t single-handedly decide what goes out in the US. He has an entire government working with him, and money is what currently dictates our fate. that, dear readers, comes from a politicians daughter.

I apologize as this is probably all tl;dr, but I like to talk out differences of opinion so that both parties may gain understanding and come away feeling better, not angry. I respect everyones opinion, and I’m not trying to make anyone feel dumb or wrong. Our opinions and beliefs make us who we are, and we should accept differing opinions and move on, not bicker over the details.

If you want a truly crazy serial killer story type Mary 10 year old killer. Click on the third one down. Now this story is truly messed up. Me and my friends found it a while back and I find myself reading it over and over again. It’s so insane.

Dr Brian Neil Talarico North Bay Has been convicted of child molestation, an
possession of child pornography on his computer. Sexually molesting a young boy.
He had prior convictions for child molestation in 1990 and 2001. After his
parole in 2006. Dr. Talarico Brian. Works for north east mental health centre,
despite his background, and numerous complaints against him of abuse, fraud,
negligence, and imprisonment. Address: North East Mental Health Centre
North Bay Campus Highway 11 North North Bay Ontario P1B 8L1, and Now Works for Act 2,
North Bay.

I think you are saying something really sad. There is nothing wrong with having a different skin color. Next time you write a comment think about what you really want to say; put yourself in an African American’s shoes: would you like for someone to discriminate you the way you are doing right now?

I read the article and the comments. Have a few of my own, felt inclined to share.

1. Not all serial killers can be diagnosed as having psychopathy. Not all psychopaths are serial killers.
2. No reason to debate the similarities or differences between psychopathy and ASPD. Psychopaths are a SUBSET of people who can be diagnosed as having an antisocial personality disorder.
3. Fascination with serial killers aside, admiration for them is sickening. Make sure that you understand the difference.
4. I find it ridiculous that people who clearly must have received enough education to be able to read and use a computer, have such poor grammar & spelling. It’s one thing to read through unintelligent, stupid or completely unsubstantiated comments, but when they also happen to be poorly worded and having a ton of mistakes… Well, that’s just plain annoying. At the very least, use spellcheck, it’s simple courtesy.
5. There are no cut and dry explanations why some people become serial killers. The age-old debate of “nature vs nurture” is still on-going, but we simply lack the capacity to once and for all answer this question, partially due to a limited sample size (there aren’t THAT many serial killers in comparison to the general population) as well as limited technology.

just so you know. there’s a typo in the story about Gary Ridgeway. When it talks about his life with his family it says that his mother was never happy with what “Ted” did (referencing back to the previous paragraph that mentioned Ted Bundy) but it’s supposed to say Gary in that one spot

can i get some information about a woman named Caril Ann Fugate? she was a famous murderer who lived in Lincoln, Ne. iv looked for info about her at numerous web sights but most of them have different stories about her. one said that she was a hostage of a couple of them say she killed 11 people as well. can someone give me a straight answer about her?

Dear world,
Mayby if there wasent any volnce maybe my uncle could finally come home from the war raging on over seas and maybe people could stop complaining about how troops protect their freedom and maybe the war raging outside my doorstep or it seems could stop and maybe i could finally relax and feel safe
and well fel safe and sound in my boyfriends arms
but i know that wont ever happen because people like to fight over every little thing its like if i misspell something they all point it out and then get ito an argeement its ok to disagree but in a civil manner
i know that my uncle may never even come home alive but right all i wish as long as there is volnce in this world at least respectthe people who risk their lives to defend your freedom
cuz in case u havent heard freedom aint free

I am a psychology major. Many people use the argument of nature vs. nurture. There are many people on this site giving their thoughts and opinions. I wonder how many of them actually have any type of education to be able to speak about the minds of a sireal killer. I beleive that some of the worlds most gruesome murderers were born with out something that so many of us are born with. I think that mixed in with something triggering the behavior such as a tension braker could be why some of these men have committed the horrific crimes against humanity that could ever be imagined. There is no excuse for hurting another human being or animal. Prison is suppose to be about reform but I do not beleive that a killer of this magnitude can be reformed. This is why they have the death sentence and institutions for the criminaly insane. There are times that a person can be rehabiltated but I have never seen it in crimes of this magnitude.

honestly i believe you will never kno who a psychopath is unless u are one, psychopaths actually are not mental well not all of them, they are like everyday people, they just have a darkside like everyone else except they express it more, and they listen to the inner demon in them, maybe troubled pasts causes this, or bad marriage or anything like that happens, or a death, everyone has the darkside, but everyone deals with it differently, all in all no one knows exactly how or what a psychopath is or does or thinks unless u are one…

it made me feel sick the death penalty is to good for theswe people they should be at the mercy of there victims loved ones and famliy what put into jail feed three times aday tv hot running water warm bed put them all on a island let them fend for them selfs hunt kill each eat shag eachother but put them out of touch of civelised decent law abiding folk the north pole springs to mind if that is to close maybe the moon one thing i do know the penal system needs radical reform and b ringing into the 21st centry

Funny how they all look “normal” enough to be your neighbor. There is a picture of John Wayne Gacy shaking hands with The first lady in the late 70’s (Carter’s wife). She is standing next to a monster and doesn’t even know it.

I truly believe in an eye for an eye form of justice for serial killers. If they admit to killing someone by stabbing them to death 45 times then they should be sentenced to die by being stabbed 45 times themselves. And the victims family members should have the right to carry out the sentence…To me that is the only TRUE form of justice.

In my oppinion I think I would love to ask them questions. However, I also feel like what they did was insanely wrong. I could never even think about doing anything like that. For reeal my mind cant even comprehend how they live with themselves. But at the same time I kind of see what drove some of them to do it. Weird.

I don’t understand how this subject turned into an ugly debate and name calling. I despise all the things these people had done to not only their victims, but the families as well. I have read books about these creatures of nature that my son-in-law loaned me. As a child i had never been told that such people exist. I only found out a few months ago. I am not an avid television fan, so that’s why i didn’t know. I won’t pass judgement and that’s my choice. Hope that all of you have a wonderful day/ year. xx

When life doesn’t turn out to be all that and more mundane then expected; you realize your just a average Joe at best and any dreams of doing something great turn into resentment and falling self esteem. I think going the path of a serial killer would be the easiest way to fast track your name on the front page and into history. I would start by doing some undercover hits on the D L on those i felt had it coming, get the police & media going, investigations, TV radio print WWW woop woop. For the Grand Finally ill wrap it up with the purple (poison) Cool Aid Christmas party.I would greet my guest dressed up like the Easter bunny toting two AK-47s mowing everyone down in the Santa Claus line, Santa and all his helpers; this way I will get tied in with Easter as a bonus. Brainstorm I will blame it all on Video Games, the Nerds will be feared, and they will all make my name their Log On name.

liking a serial killer is like joining their fan club, likin a gruesome murder! oh pliz this is really sick ! a death sentence should be passed on all those people for having such comments on the web.ISP should be traced and those with such comments should be made to face criminal trial for corrupting public morality.

we would all b robots and nothing would ever change if not 4 poeple haveing diff veiws on all things wake up dreamer ,your not the great being deciding life and death ,clown how old r u 10 if only things were that smiple ,perhaps they should pass death sentence on u is that fair think be fore you state life and death shit you must b young ,dum,and full of it and powder puff life public morality please don,t go there fool.

Don’t call them monsters, you are demonizing them just as much as the killers did to justify their killings. I have many homicidal thoughts and I have the potential to become a killer because I love blood and guts and had disturbing dreams as a child but I refuse to let myself get to the point of killing. The second I begin to crack I am going to lock myself up. I refuse to kill another human , but I can see what drove these people to do so. They are not evil monster they are people, people who are sick. One day I’m going to make a reform program for people with homicidal thoughts. I hope to bring in killers and people that show signs of becoming killers. Having these thoughts and urges often I can tell you that it is a curse. They need help and it can be brought by Being understood and listened to. They are not stupid, they are not monsters, and they are not disgusting. They are people who have been hurt, neglected, and driven crazy by their mental disorders. I want to help them, they need someone to care and help them.

sl- you hit the nail on the head. and i cant believe im agreeing. but its like when i had postpartum depression, my brain was thinking things that scared me. i had many issues prior, those were just fuel. but i sought out help, because i knew something was not right. then i see or read new articles where an isolated mother kills her children and think that cud have been me. i just tipped the “sanity” scale one way and not the other. ppls minds need to be investigated. these ppls ways and lives need to be gone through with a fine toothed comb. maybe the instability can be helped or controled? read about dylan klebold and his mind.

The criminal mind and works is very interesting, the good just about out way the bad and are all creation’s of man. It would be fair to say we have or mankind as moulded these monster. We will never truley understand how they think or what they feel. We want to know what drives these people or even understand why.
N Jane i think you need to talk to psychiatrist you will get all the attention you need

Obviously these people are dangerous and need to be removed from society. There are many capable profilers now who can get into their minds and make it easier to catch them. Looking at Ted Bundy’s post execution pictures, I could ALMOST feel sorry for the guy with his sick compulsions. But then I think of the victims, who had mothers, sisters, brothers, husbands etc. and the compassion for Ted more than pales in comparison. Especially when those of us who have children that age, with THAT hair color, realizing they would have made the perfect victim for this guy, you get over that moment of compassion very quickly. God bless the families of their prey.

People with an antisocial behavioral disorder, and people who are psyhcopaths are more different than most think. Those with ASB disorders have a harbored anger and are out to get the world, they’re holding a grudge, and take things too far. Pychopaths on the other hand are just completely incapable of understanding empathy, and are too self infatuated to think of others as equal human beings, and more like objects. NEVER associate the two as one in the same.

If you watch the movies Psycho and Death and Cremation, as well as reading the article, you can see motives that are actually forgivable. Norman Bates was controlled by his “mother” personality almost completely. The motive for Stanley in “Death and Cremation” was to kill the people who he feels are hurting society. One of the killers in the article felt that he was saving these people and being a hero. So there are reasons to forgive some serial killers.

Everybody claims serial killers are organized geniouses. Well, it’s obvious they are organized. For a short amount of time anyways. But I have yet to hear of one that has slipped away..Off the grid..Gone with the wind. Therefore, if they get caught, are they truely geniouses?
Hell no. No serial killer is a genious.
Serial Killers are twisted, obcessed with themselves, and deffinately not human. They do not have one sympathedic bone in their body. Haven’t they ever heard of therapy? Or insane asylum’s? Or Suicide? If your life is/was fucked up, then why would you wish that pain upon someone else? What HUMAN would do that? The families of the victims should be allowed to personally torture the twisted fuck that ruined their family.

Many are organized geniuses, but that doesn’t mean all are. Sometimes it means that they could be quite lucky. Some killers don’t even realize that they are killing people. I also provide a counter-point to your point that no serial killer has truly slipped away or gone off the grid. Quite a few have actually never been caught or have had even their descriptions, at least not their real descriptions anyway, given away. The golden boy of killers that have yet to be found is the Zodiac killer. He has personally claimed to have killed more than 30 people, and many of those people have yet to be found. He has created encoded letters so difficult to decode that his letters are featured among the top ten of encoded artifacts that are still yet to be decoded. His 340-key encription is so difficult to decode that hundreds of people claiming to have decoded it have gotten completely different answers as to his name and decoded writing of the letter. Nobody is anywhere near his true identity. My point as been made.

Also many seial killers, especially the serial killers that are given the nickname of “Angel of Death”, are perfectly sane, not obsessed with themselves in any way, and are very much human. And what do you call war? By your logic, we might as well lock up every single person who has ever been in the military, because what they are doing is basically the same thing that serial killers, mass murderers, spree killers, and all other types of killers are doing, except glorifying it by saying it isn’t murder, but is completely justified mass killings. And look to the medieval gladiators, they just serve to prove that humans are the only species that takes enjoyment in both torturing and killing its own members. Just look at movies today. Even though it isn’t real killing, we still take great enjoyment in the death of the people in it. We may put up the barrier of it being justice, but remember that the killers might think those that they kill have earned their deaths as well. Remember my personal twist on a famous quote: If evil always thinks it is doing right by its actions, then who’s to say they aren’t good and we aren’t evil.

Without hurting your feelings, I believe that is a sad comment. Would you like to be one of his victims or a family member of one? The fact that some are handsome doesn’t erase the fact that they are mean people. Please consider that next time.

I love how everyone is acting like they know what it’s like to be a serial killer. Like “most killer do shit like this because of this”. I mean how the fu*k could you know that without being the killer?!?!

Thinking logically, cause all that between that Rick guy and others. A lot of mental disorders are genetic, so whos to say that they can’t be from an original Jewish source for the mutation, and that the mutation stayed suppressed in the Jewish culture alone. There’s nothing for sure its just a theory. It doesn’t mean someone is racist. I’m not racist when I say it is a genetic trait of African people to have darker skinned offspring.
And I have to say though that if anyone studies the bible with heart they will find that the bible is open to all human beings, no matter what their skin color. When the bible mentions these “dark people” that could simply be a manifestation of a demon, not saying that all demons will manifest as a black person but saying that their “souls” are dark. A demon can manifest as the whitest person ever and will still have a dark soul. Jesus loved! God loves! It is love that makes Christians, we are called to love all no matter what and give them the bets chance and tell them about God and Jesus though love. Jesus wants us to not be wicked and be like the “dark ones” meaning don’t have your heart darkened by evil deeds. If we downcast a person just for the color of their skin how many shades darker does that make our souls?
And as for Jesus being a Jew, he was. Jews lived by the old testament that’s the only thing that separates them from Christians. People became Christian after Christ died for the world. Jews just don’t believe that Jesus was the son of God. So Jesus was a Jew and he taught Jewish teachings and about God. He told about God inn synagogues with Jewish rabbis. He was Jewish essentially.

three years later people are still hating jews, blacks, and bush. this page is to share thoughts on serial killers. or to pay tribute to your favorite serial killer. i pay my tribute to dennis rader, btk, and ridgway a close second. no hate just respect to the best and worst serial slayers.

Who and or what is considered a serial killer? someone who carries out a series of murders. Okaii that’s self explanitory so what is murder? the killing of another human being under conditions specifically inhumanly. Now my point! if this is what a serial killer is considered and what murder is defined as, then why is it that the writer and creator of the SAW series, American Physcho, Halloween series, Freddie vs. Jason etc. are not considered under at least a small part of being psychotic if they have a mind of killing people in their movies and the ways they come up with inorder to carry out this task. Basically, if an avarage joe like myself and yourself were to tell someone an idea to kill another human we would be considered mentaly ill, disturbed, “messed up” but if a multi-million dollar man were to come up with this idea he is considered a God of horror movies.

Technically, if you were to think up of killing someone and people were to think you mentally ill, they might be incorrect, unless you do, in fact, have a mental disorder that makes you think this way, and for all those that think all psychopaths are killers and all killers are psychopaths, you seriously MUST read about what psychopaths really are. Remember that psychopathy is, at its basic essentials, a more extreme form of antisocial personality disorder, i.e. all psychopaths have APD, but not all people with APD have psychopathy. Psychopaths make up an extremely small percentage of the world population, and very few killers are actually psychopathic. I suggest the Wikipedia page for the essential info on how to identify a psychopath. One more thing, those who think all killers should be killed themselves, counterpoint: it is very hypocritical to kill people because you don’t want them to kill people. Not all killers kill people for the fun of it. To prove this point too, look up the “Angel of Death” killer.

re-read the bios of some of these and you will see ‘seemingly harmless’, ‘model husband and loving father’. Even one as a clown. Our models of serial killers, murderers, rapists are all attempts to insulate, isolate US from THEM. The words of the Pharisee … “Thank you God for not making me like THAT man, a SINNER …”

Clearly if you can hold a gun, knife, rope and hate .. you have all the ingredients necessary to ‘cook up’ a batch of murder muffins. Granted ‘mental illness’ does exacerbate the recipe.

Murder has been in the heart of man since Cain. We share the same DNA as he … if you are so inclined to believe that, but that’s another issue. The point am trying to make is that EVERY ONE of us is a murderer in waiting.

When I read about these guys I start thinking that maybe the everyday man needs one of those executive protection companies to protect them. It’s so scary to think that the normal people at work could be into some weird different life of killing that we don’t know about.

If they only killed one person, they technically aren’t serial killers. They have to have at least 3 confirmed kills, and have killed these people in an amount of time spaced apart from eachother. For example, on the time aspect, a person kills 5 people within simply hours of eachother is not a serial killer, but a mass murederer. A person kills 5 people with several daysy between each kill is a serial killer.

I don’t think they are fascinating because I always hated the fact of murder and hurting others. However, I do have to admit that I find it really, really, really interesting to read about these people. You know, it is that kind of thing that tells you: ” I can’t believe these people like to do that”, and at the same time: ” Whoa, I should print this”

I agree with you. Many Americans are starting to realize just what kind of sick, twisted individual the former President was. Also, most of us are realizing that 9-11 was in fact an inside job. America lost many people on that day needlessly. There was and is no excuse for that type of act just to get the backing of the American people to go to war with Saddam Hussein; sick, sick, sick.

i didnt take the time to read all the comments because there are so many of them. so im not sure if someone said anything about Carl Panzram? he was a major serial killer, in the early 1900’s im pretty sure. You should put something about him on here, because he was pretty famous during his time also.

That is not quite a true statement. If you read his book, ‘The Ice Man – Diary of a Mafia Hitman’, you would see that he actually killed many homeless people (men, mostly whom he calls ‘bums’) in the dark city streets of New York City at night just to perfect the art of killing without remorse. The Ice Man may not have been considered a serial killer, but in fact, he was. Read up on something before you comment on it, please.

OK i am new here so here we go regardless of sexual preference although interesting what freaks me out is what kind of genetic advancement did Caucasian males miss are we not about 95% of this group WTF

H. H. Holmes was convicted of 1 murder, that of one of his accomplices, Benjamin pietzel. He was originally arrested on other charges, if I remember correctly I believe it was either horse theft or scamming insurance companies. He confessed to 27 murders, then recanted, he was hanged may 3, 1896, if I remember correctly. he also owned a glass shop where no glass was said to be ever made. He also murdered the three children of Benjamin Pietzel. He also wrote an autobiography from prison, there are people who believe he fits the type for jack the ripper, during his confession he kept making references to hell. Another interesting fact, when he died they covered his body in concrete, and within six months at least a few people from his trial died from causes such as suicide.

I don’t think Charles Manson should be considered as a serial killer seeing as he didn’t make the kills himself, I think in order to call him a serial killer then you could probably also in some ways call Hitler a serial killer, seeing as how he got other people to do the dirty work for him. I think Charles Manson is a manipulative psychopath who was able to get into people’s head, and con them into doing wanted he wanted

4 yrs ago i had a serial killer chase me up interstate 65 , i reported him and not untill he killed my friend on interstate did he get caught for killing alot women up and down interstate for 5 yrs the police tole me he done alot but was unable to find him,

people are looking them as they are something inhumane?
well they are human and they did what they feel like?
wars have killed billions of people in the name of democracy and freedom?
yet most of the serial killers are from america and yet they talk about peace and freedom for the world
waging wars on countries who can’t defend themselves?for oil,land,opium…capitalization,globalization?
save yourself america…a breeding ground for the unholy and inhumane

The majority of serial killers are not reclusive, social misfits who live alone. They are not monsters and may not appear strange. Many serial killers hide in plain sight within their communities. Serial murderers often have families and homes, are gainfully employed, and appear to be normal members of the community. Because many serial murderers can blend in so effortlessly, they are oftentimes overlooked by law enforcement and the public.

• Robert Yates killed seventeen prostitutes in the Spokane, Washington area, during the 1990s. He was married with five children, lived in a middle class neighborhood, and was a decorated U.S. Army National Guard helicopter pilot. During the time period of the murders, Yates routinely patronized prostitutes, and several of his victims knew each other. Yates buried one of his victims in his yard, beneath his bedroom window. Yates was eventually arrested and pled guilty to thirteen of the murders.

• The Green River Killer, Gary Ridgeway, confessed to killing 48 women over a twenty-year time period in the Seattle, Washington area. He had been married three times and was still married at the time of his arrest. He was employed as a truck painter for thirty-two years. He attended church regularly, read the Bible at home and at work, and talked about religion with co-workers. Ridgeway also frequently picked up prostitutes and had sex with them throughout the time period in which he was killing.

• The BTK killer, Dennis Rader, killed ten victims in and around Wichita, Kansas. He sent sixteen written communications to the news media over a thirty-year period, taunting the police and the public. He was married with two children, was a Boy Scout leader, served honorably in the U.S. Air Force, was employed as a local government official, and was president of his church.

Myth: Serial killers are all white males.

Contrary to popular belief, serial killers span all racial groups. There are white, African-American, Hispanic, and Asian serial killers. The racial diversification of serial killers generally mirrors that of the overall U.S. population.

• Charles Ng, a native of Hong Kong, China, killed numerous victims in Northern California, in concert with Robert Lake.

• Coral Eugene Watts, an African-American, killed five victims in Michigan, fled the state to avoid detection, and murdered another 12 victims in Texas, before being apprehended.

• Rafael Resendez-Ramirez, a native of Mexico, murdered nine people in Kentucky, Texas, and Illinois, before turning himself in.

• Rory Conde, a Colombian native, was responsible for six prostitute homicides in the Miami, Florida area.

Myth: Serial killers are only motivated by sex.

All serial murders are not sexually-based. There are many other motivations for serial murders including anger, thrill, financial gain, and attention seeking.

• In the Washington, D.C. area serial sniper case, John Allen Muhammad, a former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant, and Lee Boyd Malvo killed primarily for anger and thrill motivations. They were able to terrorize the greater Washington, D.C. metro area for three weeks, shooting 13 victims, killing 10 of them. They communicated with the police by leaving notes, and they attempted to extort money to stop the shootings. They are suspected in a number of other shootings in seven other states.

• Dr. Michael Swango, a former U.S. Marine, ambulance worker, and physician, was a health care employee. He was convicted of only four murders in New York and Ohio, although he is suspected of having poisoned and killed 35 to 50 people throughout the United States and on the continent of Africa. Swango’s motivation for the killings was intrinsic and never fully identified. Interestingly, Swango kept a scrap book filled with newspaper and magazine clippings about natural disasters, in which many people were killed.

• Paul Reid killed at least seven people during fast food restaurant robberies in Tennessee. After gaining control of the victims, he either stabbed or shot them. The motivation for the murders was primarily witness elimination. Reid’s purpose in committing the robberies was financial gain, and some of the ill-gotten gains were used to purchase a car.

Myth: All serial murderers travel and operate interstate.

Most serial killers have very defined geographic areas of operation. They conduct their killings within comfort zones that are often defined by an anchor point (e.g. place of residence, employment, or residence of a relative). Serial murderers will, at times, spiral their activities outside of their comfort zone, when their confidence has grown through experience or to avoid detection. Very few serial murderers travel interstate to kill.

The few serial killers who do travel interstate to kill fall into a few categories:

• Itinerant individuals who move from place to place.
• Homeless individuals who are transients.
• Individuals whose employment lends itself to interstate or transnational travel, such as truck drivers or those in military service.

The difference between these types of offenders and other serial murderers is the nature of their traveling lifestyle, which provides them with many zones of comfort in which to operate.

Myth: Serial killers cannot stop killing.

It has been widely believed that once serial killers start killing, they cannot stop. There are, however, some serial killers who stop murdering altogether before being caught. In these instances, there are events or circumstances in offenders’ lives that inhibit them from pursuing more victims. These can include increased participation in family activities, sexual substitution, and other diversions.

• BTK killer, Dennis Rader, murdered ten victims from 1974 to 1991. He did not kill any other victims prior to being captured in 2005. During interviews conducted by law enforcement, Rader admitted to engaging in auto-erotic activities as a substitute for his killings.

• Jeffrey Gorton killed his first victim in 1986 and his next victim in 1991. He did not kill another victim and was captured in 2002. Gorton engaged in cross-dressing and masturbatory activities, as well as consensual sex with his wife in the interim.

Myth: All Serial killers are insane or are evil geniuses.

Another myth that exists is that serial killers have either a debilitating mental condition, or they are extremely clever and intelligent.

As a group, serial killers suffer from a variety of personality disorders, including psychopathy, anti-social personality, and others. Most, however, are not adjudicated as insane under the law.

The media has created a number of fictional serial killer “geniuses”, who outsmart law enforcement at every turn. Like other populations, however, serial killers range in intelligence from borderline to above average levels.

Myth: Serial killers want to get caught.

Offenders committing a crime for the first time are inexperienced. They gain experience and confidence with each new offense, eventually succeeding with few mistakes or problems.

While most serial killers plan their offenses more thoroughly than other criminals, the learning curve is still very steep. They must select, target, approach, control, and dispose of their victims. The logistics involved in committing a murder and disposing of the body can become very complex, especially when there are multiple sites involved.

As serial killers continue to offend without being captured, they can become empowered, feeling they will never be identified. As the series continues, the killers may begin to take shortcuts when committing their crimes. This often causes the killers to take more chances, leading to identification by law enforcement. It is not that serial killers want to get caught; they feel that they can’t get caught

For years I have being reading about serial killers But, I also have read since I was very young, all kind of material. But the serial killers is a matter that have made me wonder many times..How is this possible.
I recently saw a documentary (recent) where the brain of many people were studied. People who were prone to violence did show differences
in their brain. But, the ones who developed a violent temper usually had a bad childhood, where physical and verbal abuse was around.
Also alcohol and drugs. Your article showed this childhood situation on those known serial killers. In this day and age, drugs and alcohol plus family disfunction, the violence, its scary where it could take us???? I am a recovered alcoholic 26 years sober, and two years clean of prescription drugs. I was on pills 9 years, my sister die high on crack.
I come from a VERY DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY. I AM OK, but being in the gutter in the darkness of night, with crazy people around all kind of shit happens. I do not feel sorry for serial killers but I do understand
somewhat where they are coming from. And that is what scares me.
I LOVE YOUTUBE. yOU GIVE ME EVERYTHING I HAVE BEEN LOOKINF FOR IN THE WIDE WEB THANK YOU!!!!!! Sandra Mora